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p>The Beano's Dennis, Gnasher and Walter join Minecraft By Emily Thomas Newsbeat reporter

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p>Minecraft players should be on the watch for Walter "softy" and his stinky pants.

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p>Walter, Dennis the Menace and his dog Gnasher, from The Beano, can now be added to PC versions of the game.

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p>Gnasher can be made a sausage by players and all of Dennis' pranks, such as catapults and stink bombs can be used.

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p>It's part of the Beano's bigger plans to expand into digital and its mod has come out of a partnership between the animated series and Frima Studios, a Canadian multiplatform game developer.

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p>Mark Cotton, who is the head of digital transformation at Beano Mark Cotton, the Beano's digital leader, told Newsbeat that Minecraft is "their biggest passion and most cherished love"

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p>Mark states that the game is an extension of the comic and a way of making The Beano "a more holistic experience" for kids.

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p>He claims that 32,000 comics are sold every Week of the Beano that is an impressive number.

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p>However, it's a lot less than the two million copies sold at the height of the magazine's popularity.

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p>Mark says, "We are very conscious that today's children have a passion about digital." https://anotepad.com/notes/fbs2h4a8 </p>

p>"We have to transform The Beano into a 360-degree brand where Dennis and Gnasher is everywhere that children are, instead of expecting that they will come to us.

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p>"So we're currently working on a variety of initiatives over the next three to six months."

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p>Some of those initiatives include puzzle games, an interactive comic, and an "action 3D game for children".

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p>The Beano's publisher DC Thompson has already extended the brand's reach to a television show, a photo-sharing application and YouTube? channel.

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p>Grand Theft Auto?

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p>The comic's been around since 1938 and has plenty of adult fans. So might the Beano characters be featured in any of the adult games? Dennis the Menace in Grand Theft Auto perhaps?

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p>"No. We don't have anything to focus on at the moment," says Mark.

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p>"We're focussing on the 7-11-year-old digital product - for the moment, digital is about engaging with children and discovering their passions."

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p>In order to accomplish this, they've consulted an advisory group of 10 7 to 11-year-old Beano and Minecraft fans throughout the development process.

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p>Minnie the Minx?

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p>"We basically asked children"If Beano were to appear in Minecraft What would it look like?'

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p>"This was the first step in imagining what they desired. Evidently, their imaginations go a lot further than we can possibly do at the moment.

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p>"But they wanted to play pranks. They wanted Walter, Gnasher and Dennis. That's what they got.

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p>"We'll continue to talk to them. Our goal is to expand this and to build Beanotown and let kids be creative.

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p>"Minecraft is so well-known because it gives children the ability to make decisions. If we try to constrain the kids and tell them what to do, they'd probably reject it."

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p>Will other characters also get a look in?

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p>"We definitely want to extend it," says Mark.

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p>"The obvious character and the ones the kids have been looking for is Minnie the Minx so we'll probably take a look at next."

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